FEDERICO LUSA

FEDERICO LUSA – council member of the Association for the 100km del Passatore until 2008

Walter Brambilla, Pirì Crementi, Federico Lusa – 2003

FEDERICO LUSA, HONOURARY PRESIDENT OF THE FAENZA SECTION OF THE UOEI, an association with nearly a century of history and that can count nearly a thousand members involved in a number of activities in their free time: hiking, bicycle tourism, skiing, road racing, excursions and other recreational and cultural activities. Walter Brambilla, Piri Clementi Federico Lusi – 2003.

Recognized as a “master” of the profession he practiced for many years in Faenza and around the city of Bergamo. Federico Lusi of the Faenza section of the UOEI was one of those who pioneered and restarted the association after the last world war. In 1989 he personally took the reins of the association at the end of the twenty year presidency of Francesco “Checco” Calderoni. It was a difficult period and he held the presidency until 1996. In the eight years Lusi led the association with wisdom and diplomacy and he knew how to give solidity to the UOEI by forming new sectors of activity under “controlled autonomy”. The association reopened the refuge at Fontana Moneta, the office at Corso Garibaldi was opened and new regulations were established, as well as the publication of the newsletter “Il Sentiero” and membership exceeded 1,300. When he left the position the UOEI recognized his contribution by naming him as Honourary President. Until his final days he never lost his love for the mountains where, as he said, “Friendship is reinforced…”

Lusa was the representative for the UOEI on the managing committee of the “100km Florence-Faenza”, an event that our President Checco Calderoni conceived more than thirty years ago, finding support from Alleo Dolcini. “Master Lusi,” emphasized an emotional Elio Assirelli, President of the Association of the 100km, “Was one of the promoters of the event and one of the founders of the Association of the 100km. His commitment and sense of responsibility were of a high level and which he always expressed impartially. Moved by a great will to teach, Lusi distinguished himself as a humble and passionate administrator who contributed much to making the race of the Passatore one of the most important events of the city which makes Faenza known in Italy and around the world.

“We will strive to never forget him,” concluded Assirelli, “and we commit ourselves to remembering him with a venture shared with the friends of the UOEI.”

In 2002 Lusi dedicated himself to a book celebrating the 90th anniversary of the section to the UOEI. The section was founded on November 1st, 1912 on Mount Lavane. Together with the activities of the UOEI, the book showed a cross section of the city of over the last century. Ninety years of History, love of the mountains, sport and culture. Suffice it to think of the “100km” conceived by the UOEI and even the Feast of the Mountain that has been celebrated for more than 40 years as only its two best known events. Felù, as Federico signed his articles, completed his book with a sincere heart and as a passionate member of the UOEI to give young people the message and the aims with which the UOEI was born. It had been founded to get workers out of the smoky taverns and far away from the vices of alcohol and gambling and instill in them a love of the mountains. But today, emphasized Lusa, even if they have changed, there are now other vices lurking for all ages and every social category. For this reason, added the Master appealing to young people, the presence of the UOEI is still valid and necessary for organizing events designed to make a healthy use of free time. This is his message and the invitation to be accepted now that he has left us.